IELTS
IELTS or International English Language Testing System is conducted to
test English language skills for the students of non English speaking
countries. It is a standardized test which is managed by University of
Cambridge ESOL Examinations, British Council and IDP Education Pty Ltd.
The IELTS was established in the year 1989 to maintain a standardized
test for all the students.
Types of IELTS
IELTS is conducted in two versions, first being the
Academic Version and the second is
General Training Version.
The
Academic Version is for students who want to enroll in higher
institutions and professional studies such as universities or other
higher educational institutes and colleges. Those who are interested in
profession of medical doctors or nurses and other higher studies
programs can appear for the Academic Version of IELTS
The
General Training Version is for candidates who want to pursue academic
training, to gain work experience or for other immigration requirements
Countries
At
present there are many countries that follow IELTS to enroll students
in their institutes. It is accepted by most of the institutions in
United States, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. In the
United States there are more than 3000 academic institutes that accept
IELTS at various professional levels. Furthermore, in Australia, New
Zealand and Canada, IELTS is used for immigration purposes.
Scoring
The
process of scoring in IELTS is different from other Standardized
Tests because there are no minimum marks or points required to pass it.
As a matter of fact, each candidate is scored between the band 1 and
band 9, where band 1 is non user and 9 is expert user. However, each
institute has its own policy and minimum score on which they admit
students. A band 0 is also given to students who do not appear for the
test.
It is important to note that institutes are not advised to
consider reports that are older than 2 years, due to validity purpose.
Thus, students should enroll themselves by a maximum time of 2 years.
Test Structure
The
structure of IELTS is developed in a way to suit the candidates of
different countries and cultures. Thus, a variety of writing style and
accents are included in the test material to decrease bias in this
procedure.
The main objective is to test the candidate's ability to
listen,
speak,
read and
write in English language. Hence, candidates need to complete these modules to achieve a band score.
Following is the duration of each module:
- Listening has a total duration of 40 minutes.
- Reading has duration of 60 minutes.
- Writing has duration of 60 minutes and,
- 11 to 15 minutes are kept for Speaking.
Band Scale
Listed below is a band scale according to which, the candidates are scored in IELTS.
- 9 - Expert User
- 8 - Very Good User
- 7 - Good User
- 6 - Competent User
- 5 - Modest User
- 4 - Limited User
- 3 - Extremely Limited User
- 2 - Intermittent User
- 1 - Non User
- 0 - Did not attempt the test
Test Location
IELTS
is conducted in various countries across the world. At present, it is
taken in 500 locations across 121 countries. Moreover, there are
approximately 48 test dates available every year.
For more information, please visit
www.ielts.org/